


Perspective

by honestgrins



Series: Empty Promises [2]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Day Two - Favorite New Quote, F/M, KCWeek18
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-07-05 22:42:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15873189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honestgrins/pseuds/honestgrins
Summary: Caroline has to convince her daughters to help the big bad wolf.





	Perspective

"Why should we help Dope's dad?"

Caroline looked up at the ceiling, determined to count all the way to ten without yelling. While there might be plenty Mystic Falls alumni chuckling over the karma of her raising mean girls, she didn't have time for their antics when Klaus was actively trying to die. " _Hope_ ," she countered tersely, bringing her glare down to face her hellions, "is in danger, and her dad has found a really crappy solution that unfortunately involves you. But he's my friend, and he needs my help. Which means I need yours."

Frowning, Josie and Lizzie glanced to each other warily. "You don't have friends," Lizzie pointed out. Her hip popped as she crossed her arms, and Caroline fought the urge to roll her eyes at the mirror image of her younger self. Yep, Liz Forbes's ghost was laughing it up right now.

"Uncle Matt, Aunt Bonnie," Josie argued, only for Lizzie to scoff.

"Aunt Bonnie avoids this place like it's haunted."

_It is,_ Caroline wanted to say, but that was beside the point. "He's an old friend, yes, but a friend nonetheless."

Josie shrugged, looking unsure. "Dad says he's the bad guy, one of the worst."

Caroline should have known Ric was running interference. Her tongue wet her lips, a nervous energy making its way up her spine. "Klaus- I know your dad has told you stories about this place, and I've told you about Bonnie, and Elena, and Stefan. For a while, it felt like it was us against the world, you know?" Literally, in some cases. "And for another while, it was us against Klaus. He's...a very old vampire, his werewolf gene bound by his mother's magic. A thousand years later, he got what he needed to break that binding curse."

"Elena," Josie answered, ever her father's history nerd.

Nodding, Caroline went to sit on the couch, glad when the girls joined her. "Elena," she confirmed. "I hated him for all the crap he put us through, and that was even before he killed my boyfriend. Temporarily." Tyler was a long-healed sore spot, except for the thread of hate she still held for Damon killing him for real. "And then he tried to kill me, twice."

"Yeah, sounds like a great guy we help." Lizzie's voice was snide and condescending, but Caroline heard the note of concern in it. 

She smiled wanly, a small lift of her lips. "It's a  _long_ story," she sighed. "Klaus was a villain, yes. But he was more than that sometimes, especially to me. And now he's trying to be a hero." Her smile fell, a deep sadness emptying a hole in her heart. "A stupid, stupid hero."

So much for being her last love, but she could at least give him one last confession. Though he didn't have to become another freaking martyr to prove it, Klaus wasn't the villain in her story. 


End file.
